Pithivier with Butternut Squash, Curly Kale, Mozzarella, and Sun-dried Tomato
Can you believe It Starts with Veg has been out 6 months next week? No, me neither. I also can’t believe its the end of 2024. When the new year rolled around last year, I remember thinking that this year was going to be one big step into the unknown. I’d dreamt about publishing a cookbook for so long, and so many high hopes for it and what it would mean for my career, but never really had any idea just how it was going to turn out. 12 months later and I still don’t know. I guess that’s been the biggest shock. In that there has been no shock. Just a long list of glimmers that have kept me skipping around all year; from friends and family dropping photo whats apps of what they’ve been cooking, to chatting to Gaby Roslin on BBC Radio London, to hosting the most wonderfully uplifting launch event at the Garden Museum.
But there’s also been disappointment too. The main lesson I’ve learned is that you don’t ‘make it’ when you become a published writer, that it’s really difficult to get press coverage, you have to work incredibly hard to secure engagements to promote the book, whilst simultaneously maintaining your freelance portfolio, and you don’t really earn any money from books, at least not while the book slowly slowly starts to earn its way out of its advance (not entirely new info tbh I’d always been told this last point was the case).
What the year has done though, has assured me that I’m on the right path because I still feel utterly passionate about all the recipes I created for the book, I still like vegetables, and given half a chance I would do it all again. 11 years into my new career, I’ve realised I am still just getting started.
This post was actually meant to feel celebratory, so in it I’ve decided to share one more of my favourite recipes from the book (with kind permission from my publishers). Since the book doesn’t have any photos I worked with photographer Samantha Couzens, back in the summer to create some stunning images to share across the media. I kept the recipe back because it’s perfect for right now.
The pithivier does have quite a few steps, and is a little decadent in its portion size, but it wouldn’t be an It Starts with Veg recipe unless it kept a vegetable at its heart – here a sizeable piece of sweet butternut squash smothered in sun-dried tomato paste and topped with mozzarella and garlicky curly kale. It’s my veg centric version of a beef wellington, but made for one person, and I think it’s just as show stopping. Perfect for the festive season, or just an average Wednesday night because you’re worth it.
I baked these pithiviers the day before the shoot, because we had so much to fit in on the day. Unfortunately this meant the mozzarella just didn’t re-melt with enough ooziness for us to capture, so you’ll have to imagine it.
Enjoy the pie, and please remember my book when you’re writing your letters to Father Christmas, or gifting a loved one. If you’d like a personalised book I have a limited amount available to send out, and you can order that here.
Thanks for all your support with the book and my platform this year, I’ll be back with some new recipes in the new year. Ceri x
- 2 x 2.5cm/1 inch thick discs of butternut squash sliced from the cylinder end of a medium-sized squash, peeled
- olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 40g/1½oz curly kale, stripped from stalk and roughly chopped
- 1 x 320g/11½oz sheet ready rolled puff pastry, brought to room temperature
- 4 tsp sun-dried tomato paste
- 100g/3½oz ball mozzarella cheese, sliced into 6 pieces
- 1 egg yolk, lightly whisked
- salt and pepper
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
- Rub the squash discs all over with a little olive oil and season. Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, until a knife will easily glide through the centre. Remove from the oven and slide the squash onto a cooling rack to cool down. Raise the temperature of the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
- Meanwhile, prepare the rest of your filling. Add ½ tablespoon of olive oil to a frying pan over a medium heat and briefly sauté the chopped garlic to soften. Add the chopped kale along with 1 tablespoon of water and cook for 1–2 minutes, until just wilted. Set aside to cool.
- Unroll the sheet of puff pastry and use a bowl or plate as a guide to cut your pastry circles. The two circles for the base should have a diameter at least 2cm/1 inch bigger than your butternut squash discs. The other two circles for the top need to be 1cm/½ inch bigger than the pastry bases.
- Transfer the smaller discs to a lined baking tray. Place the butternut squash discs in the centre of the smaller circles and top each with 2 teaspoons of sun-dried tomato paste, three slices of mozzarella, and the cooked kale. Wet the edges of the pastry base with a little water, then place the larger pastry circle on top of the filling to create a dome shape. Squidge the edges together, then use a small knife to make a tiny hole at the top. Gently score curves around the pie from the centre hole towards the edges (don’t go through the pastry) to create the classic pithivier look. Brush the pastries all over with the whisked egg yolk.
- Bake the pithiviers in the oven for 25 minutes until the pastry is browned and crispy all over, and the base is firm and crusty when tapped.